Patrick McCaskie, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment, says the current global system is failing to solve the climate and development crisis.
This failure is hurting the economies of small island developing states like Barbados.
He shared his thoughts at a two-day workshop called Unlocking Climate Finance: Building a Sustainable Climate Architecture for Barbados, held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. The event was organized by the Climate Finance Access Network (CFAN).
Mr. McCaskie said that global financial promises, especially for climate support, fall far short of what is really needed. This lack of funding makes it harder for world leaders to deal with the climate problems in their countries.
He explained that leaders at the United Nations COP 29 Conference are trying to agree on a new climate finance goal to help poor countries handle climate change.
Most agree that large amounts of money are needed, but there is still disagreement about who should pay for it. Experts say trillions of dollars are required—far more than poor nations can afford.
Quoting a Climate Policy Initiative report, Mr. McCaskie said current global climate finance is about $1.3 trillion a year. However, most of this money comes in the form of loans, which add to the debt of developing countries and make it harder for them to recover from climate disasters.
He said it is very difficult to manage the complex climate finance system, and he praised CFAN for helping Barbados create proposals for key sectors like farming, water, and household protection.
Ricardo Marshall, Director of the Roofs to Reefs Programme, said the global financial system must be changed quickly. He noted that Prime Minister Mia Mottley and her team have done a lot of work to find money to protect Barbados from climate threats. But he said the current system is not meeting the country’s needs.
CFAN Advisor Chemora Mc Knee added that climate finance must be an ongoing effort. She said countries need to keep learning, adapting, and building skills. She warned against using old ideas to face today’s climate crisis and urged everyone to think differently.
She said the workshop’s goal was to remove the barriers to climate funding, build stronger institutions, and develop urgent and realistic strategies. Climate change is moving fast, and so must the response.
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